Reviews YESTERDAY. I wouldn’t call Danny Boyle one of my favorite directors. He can tend toward narrative overreach, treacly sentimentality and visual excess. Still, he’s been showing up and doing the work for oh, 25 years now — at least in the world of features, since he was directing television for a while before the […]
The Miniplex
Posted inArts + Scene
Good Goth
Reviews LOS ESPOOKYS. Even as blockbuster movies continue spiraling into a pit of staleness — eight of the 10 highest-grossing films last week were remakes or sequels — streaming channels climb on to more creative heights. Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, YouTube, et al., offer such bounty that a person would almost trade the summer […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Men Out of Time
Reviews SHAFT. Isaac Hayes’ Theme from Shaft is a certified slapper (that’s what the kids are calling them, right?). Trouble is, so is John Shaft, at least as characterized by Richard Roundtree in the original movie from 1971. (I haven’t explored the quick succession of sequels, TV movies or the kinda-sorta sequel in 2000, starring […]
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All Creatures Great and Small
Reviews THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM. John and Molly Chester give up city jobs and buy a dilapidated farm with the goal of a) keeping a promise to their dog and b) making a farm that’s completely natural — no big corporate agriculture here. Fascinating idea, right? Plus, director John (a veteran TV director before buying […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Better than Maybe
Reviews ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE. It can be challenging for me to find an entry point with romantic comedies. Not that I dislike them (though to be honest I would most of the time select something else) but by and large the genre leans on the acceptance of a certain level of earnestness, a borderline […]
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Overachievers Gone Wild
Reviews BOOKSMART. Unless you’re one of those people who has the sun shining on them every day, high school can be tricky to navigate. Whether it’s infuriating or merely tedious, it’s quite a trial at the time. Having a best friend with whom to bond can definitely help someone through the highs and lows. Central […]
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Man of the Hour
Reviews JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM. As we struggle for footing on the shifting sands of national leadership in constant cartoon crisis, a broader geopolitical landscape tilting toward global conflict and socioeconomic dissolution, and increasingly centralized popular entertainment defined by literal and figurative monsters, there is hope in John Wick. Everything else can continue […]
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She Should Run
Reviews LONG SHOT. My wife has harbored a celebrity crush on Seth Rogen since long before he started showing up in good suits; this confounds and troubles me. But to each her own. We can at least agree that Rogen is a writer and performer of substantial comedic gifts. For my part, well, I have […]
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Adrift in the Marvel Universe
Reviews AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Chemically unassisted sleep is, as a rule, challenging for me. It is the healthy, more reliable path by which to arrive at REM sleep (which everyone assures me is very important) but that sleeping state is frequently defined by vivid dreams of depravity and inadequacy. And the long stretches between filled with […]
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Horse Power
Reviews THE MUSTANG. Hope isn’t the word for it, really, but then one should hardly go looking for hope in a prison movie. (Sorry, Shawshank fans). But The Mustang, the feature debut from Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, contains notes of such delicacy and authenticity, setting connection and kindness against the cruelty and debasement of captivity, that […]
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Little Devils
Reviews HELLBOY. Sometimes one wants simply to be entertained: to sit in a dark room and be distracted — transported, ideally, but that’s asking a lot — by a fantastical world of someone else’s imagining. I found myself in that mood this past weekend and thought Hellboy might do the job. Now I’ll roll out […]
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The Ups and Downs of Supernatural Pet Ownership
Reviews PET SEMATARY. I started reading Stephen King, well, probably too young. The phase receded in early-mid adolescence, although I have, as recently as this year, begun to revisit his books at this late stage. I continue to enjoy the force of his imagination, the breadth (perhaps more than the depth) of his storytelling, his […]